Fear in the Night (1972)

Director:

Jimmy Sangster

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (writer)
Michael Syson (writer)

Release Date:

October 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A young woman recovering from a nervous breakdown moves with her husband to a boys' school, but finds herself being terrorized by a mysterious one-armed man - and nobody believes her. |

Plot Keywords:

Nervous Breakdown | Beautiful Woman | Independent Film

Cast

Judy Geeson	...	Peggy Heller
Joan Collins	...	Molly Carmichael
Ralph Bates	...	Robert Heller
Peter Cushing	...	Michael Carmichael
James Cossins	...	The Doctor
Gillian Lind	...	Mrs. Beamish
Brian Grellis	...	2nd Policeman
John Bown	...	1st Policeman

Also Known As:

Dynasty of Fear
Honeymoon of Fear

Runtime:

USA:94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | France:-12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | UK:X (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Judy Geeson: Inseminoid Girl (2004) (V)

Somewhat Disappointing

Don't get me wrong. This is not a bad film, but it really is not a good film either. It really is a rather predictable treatment of material that had so much more potential. The story about a crazed headmaster at a school that no longer is open, the recent arrival of a young woman that had recently gone through some emotional problems, and the two plot strains coming together through various attacks on the young woman by a crazed tormentor has promise. However, in director Jimmy Sangster's hands, his third directorial feature, the plot is very predictable and slow-moving. The cast is first-rate, and all the actors do fine jobs in their roles. Peter Cushing is in top form as the bizarre headmaster of a country boy's school. Judy Geeson is lovely and vulnerable in her role as a young woman who cannot tell whether or not she is imagining being attacked. Ralph Bates does an equally good job in his role, but his motivation becomes very clear well before it should have. Lastly is the presence of Joan Collins. She is beautiful and bitchy(always her trademarks as an actress)yet has very little screen time and none with Peter Cushing who is playing her husband! With all this acting talent, the Hammer staff, Sangster, I was just very disappointed that the film was so blase. There are a few good moments like the opening panning of the camera across the school grounds and the final shot as well, but I had the "complex" plot figured halfway through the film partly because its been done a dozen or so times(most of them far more effectively) and partly because it was the only possible solution at hand. Not enough red herrings! A must see if you are a Hammer or Peter Cushing fan, but otherwise I think you will be, like me, disappointed and not feared in the night but rather....bored.